Police: Couple's deaths may be drug overdose

August 6, 2013

PARKERSBURG - Investigators are treating the deaths of a Parkersburg couple last week as a potential drug overdose.

Brandon and Erica Lovell of Parkersburg died Aug. 1, after being found unresponsive in their Comer Street home.

Brandon Lovell, 29, of Parkersburg was found dead. His wife, Erica Lovell, 32, of Parkersburg, was taken to Camden Clark Medical Center where she died. Both were discovered in the same room of their house, Wood County sheriff's Chief Deputy Shawn Graham said.

"Due to evidence collected on-scene we are investigating this as a potential overdose," Graham said. Suspected controlled substances were recovered in the home, he said.

Wood County Prosecutor Jason Wharton said investigators are waiting on toxicology results from the autopsy reports.

"Preliminary investigation by the Wood County Sheriff's Department indicates that a drug overdose is likely," Wharton said.

"The circumstances surrounding their deaths are under investigation," Graham said.

Graham declined to speculate what type of drugs may have been involved.

The area has been inundated with heroin issues recently, including a fatal overdose by a 27-year-old woman in January. Law enforcement officials have responded to more than a dozen suspected, heroin-related drug overdoses this year.

Wood County Coroner Mike St. Clair told Wood County commissioners the county had 25 drug-related deaths last year, one of which was related to heroin.

Services for the Lovells are being held today in south Parkersburg. The couple is survived by their three children.